''Cladrastis'' (yellowwood) is a genus of nine species of flowering plants in the family

Fabaceae The Fabaceae or Leguminosae,International Code of Nomenc ...

, eight native to eastern Asia, and one to southeastern

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

. Species of ''Cladrastis'' are small to medium-sized deciduous trees typically growing 10–20 m tall, exceptionally to 27 m tall. The

leaves A leaf (plural, : leaves) is any of the principal appendages of a vascular plant plant stem, stem, usually borne laterally aboveground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", wh ...

are compound pinnate, with 5–17 alternately arranged leaflets. The flowers are fragrant, white or pink, produced in

raceme A raceme ( or ) or racemoid is an unbranched, indeterminate type of inflorescence bearing flowers having short floral stalks along the shoots that bear the flowers. The oldest flowers grow close to the base and new flowers are produced as the s ...

s or

panicle A panicle is a much-branched inflorescence. (softcover ). Some authors distinguish it from a compound spike inflorescence, by requiring that the flowers (and fruit) be pedicellate (having a single stem per flower). The branches of a panicle are of ...

s 15–40 cm long. The fruit is a

pod Pod or POD may refer to: Biology * Pod (fruit), a type of fruit of a flowering plant * Husk or pod of a legume * Pod of whales or other marine mammals * "-pod", a suffix meaning "foot" used in taxonomy Electronics and computing * Proper ort ...

3–8 cm long, containing one to six seeds. ''Cladrastis'' is related to the genus '' Maackia'', from which it differs in having the buds concealed in the leaf base, and in the leaflets being arranged alternately on the leaf rachis, not in opposite pairs. The genus name derives from the Greek ''klados'', branch, and ''thraustos'', fragile, referring to the brittle nature of the twigs. The combination of ''Cladrastis'', ''

Pickeringia ''Pickeringia'' is a monotypic genus of flowering plants in the legume family, Fabaceae. It was recently assigned to the unranked, monophyletic ''Cladrastis'' clade. It was named after the naturalist Charles Pickering. Its only species is ''Pic ...

'' and '' Styphnolobium'' form a

monophyletic In cladistics for a group of organisms, monophyly is the condition of being a clade—that is, a group of taxa composed only of a common ancestor (or more precisely an ancestral population) and all of its lineal descendants. Monophyletic gro ...

clade A clade (), also known as a monophyletic group or natural group, is a group of organisms that are monophyletic – that is, composed of a common ancestor and all its lineal descendants – on a phylogenetic tree. Rather than the English term, ...

known as the ''Cladrastis'' clade; as the other two originated from within ''Cladrastis'', ''Cladrastis'' is paraphyletic.

Species

''Cladrastis'' comprises the following species: * ''

Cladrastis chingii ''Cladrastis'' (yellowwood) is a genus of nine species of flowering plants in the family Fabaceae, eight native to eastern Asia, and one to southeastern North America. Species of ''Cladrastis'' are small to medium-sized deciduous trees typically ...

'' Duley & Vincent * ''

Cladrastis delavayi ''Cladrastis'' (yellowwood) is a genus of nine species of flowering plants in the family Fabaceae, eight native to eastern Asia, and one to southeastern North America. Species of ''Cladrastis'' are small to medium-sized deciduous trees typically ...

'' (Franch.) PrainSome sources treat ''Cladrastis delavayi'' as a synonym of ''Cladrastis sinensis''. * ''

Cladrastis kentukea ''Cladrastis kentukea'', the Kentucky yellowwood or American yellowwood (syn. ''C. lutea'', ''C. tinctoria''), is a species of ''Cladrastis'' native to the Southeastern United States, with a restricted range from western North Carolina west to e ...

'' (Dum. Cours.) Rudd—Southeastern North America. * ''

Cladrastis parvifolia ''Cladrastis'' (yellowwood) is a genus of nine species of flowering plants in the family Fabaceae, eight native to eastern Asia, and one to southeastern North America. Species of ''Cladrastis'' are small to medium-sized deciduous trees typically ...

'' C.Y. Ma—Guanxi, China. * ''

Cladrastis platycarpa ''Cladrastis'' (yellowwood) is a genus of nine species of flowering plants in the family Fabaceae, eight native to eastern Asia, and one to southeastern North America. Species of ''Cladrastis'' are small to medium-sized deciduous trees typically ...

'' (Maxim.) Makino—Japan. * ''

Cladrastis scandens ''Cladrastis'' (yellowwood) is a genus of nine species of flowering plants in the family Fabaceae, eight native to eastern Asia, and one to southeastern North America. Species of ''Cladrastis'' are small to medium-sized deciduous trees typically ...

'' C.Y. Ma—Guizhou, China. * ''

Cladrastis shikokiana ''Cladrastis'' (yellowwood) is a genus of nine species of flowering plants in the family Fabaceae, eight native to eastern Asia, and one to southeastern North America. Species of ''Cladrastis'' are small to medium-sized deciduous trees typically ...

'' (Makino) Makino—Southern Japan. * ''

Cladrastis sinensis ''Cladrastis'' (yellowwood) is a genus of nine species of flowering plants in the family Fabaceae, eight native to eastern Asia, and one to southeastern North America. Species of ''Cladrastis'' are small to medium-sized deciduous trees typically ...

'' Hemsl.—China, widespread. * '' Cladrastis wilsonii'' Takeda—Central China.

Species

References

Further reading